The internal combustion engine contains harmful pollutants in its crankcase. These pollutants are caused by blow-by gases from the combustion chamber and the rotating action of the crankshaft turning in the crankcase. In the past these harmful emissions were vented into the air via a road draft tube, or through a PCV valve into the combustion chamber of the engine.
A number of inventions have tried to reduce harmful crankcase emissions with varying degrees of success. For previous inventions in this field, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,450,114; 3,463,132; 3,779,221; 4,089,309; 4,167,164; and 4,370,971. These inventions have in common either a vent to atmospheric air, a container for collecting harmful emissions, or a combination of both in many cases.
The prior art generally uses one or both of these parts to filter or separate harmful crankcase emissions. Use of such components is problematic for at least two reasons.
Atmospheric venting allows the drawing in of air into the combustion chamber. This adversely affects computerized automobiles. The computerized vehicle is designed to allow air only into the combustion chamber via the intake manifold. The California Air Resources Board does not allow the use of the air vent shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,370,971 on cars equipped with either three-way catalyst or oxidation catalyst. See California Air Resources Board Executive order #D-69-4. The sale of this product in California is only allowed when the atmospheric vent is plugged.
It is also not desirous to have a collection camber that stores separated solid and liquid portions of the crankcase emissions from the crankcase because a toxic waste is created. Furthermore this toxic waste must then be disposed of, creating unnecessary and burdensome problems for the consumer.
The present invention is designed to reduce emissions without a collection chamber, so there is no collection of toxic waste. It accomplishes this by means of a unique filtration system that separates the filter material by air spaces and allows the heavy hydrocarbons to flow back into the combustion chamber. The present invention is an improvement over previous inventions because it accomplishes more complete filtration of heavier unburnable hydrocarbons without the use of an air vent to the atmosphere or a collection canister to store the liquid portion of the crankcase emissions.